It is an iron age, and wire fencing is creeping into use, especially in the most scientifically cultivated districts of Scotland, where the elements and issues of the farmer's balance-sheet are looked to with the most eager concern.

Iron wire grows faster than hawthorn or buckthorn.

It doubtless costs less.
It needs no yearly trimming, like shrubs with sap and leaves.

It does not occupy a furrow's width as a boundary between two fields.
It may be easily transposed to vary enclosures.

It is not a nesting place for destructive birds or vermin.